A message push technology, also referred to as a PUSH technology, is a client/server communication mechanism-based technology in which a server actively sends a message to a client. The technology is one of the currently popular technologies on the mobile Internet.
Generally, when a service provider (SP) needs to PUSH a message to a specified client, an SP server needs to specify identity information of the client that is to receive the message, where the identity information includes a device identifier (deviceID). Next, a PUSH server forwards, to the client that is specified by the SP server to receive the message, to-be-pushed message content according to the deviceID, so as to PUSH the message to the specified client.
In the foregoing process of message push, information is transparent to a message pusher and a message receiver. Because a deviceID often exists in the form of a hardware device media access control (MAC) code, an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) or a mobile phone number, in a conventional process of message push, an SP server may obtain, by using the deviceID, some private information of relatively high privacy of a user; however, when using a PUSH service, the user does not expect such private information to be exposed.